A Dark Serenity
by Refracted Shadow
Summary: The last moments of a Jedi during the raid upon the Jedi Temple.


The darkness was a palpable thing, more than just the nightfall; it was as if it permeated the very air. Not even the Jedi Temple was safe from the enveloping twilight. Without the presence of its highest masters the great halls lost their light. Jedi that continued to roam the halls at the late hour could feel the change; it was as though a veil had been dropped and the true extent of the darkness could be sensed by all. Even so, the Jedi did not despair for they knew that when the shadow reached its peak the light would pierce it and return all to as it should be.

But they did not know how much shadow had encompassed; they did not know that the light had failed, as if sucked into a black hole. They did not know that it was no longer a simple battle between good and evil: it was a battle for relevance. And the Jedi were no longer relevant.

It began with the temple halls being filled with blaster fire…

Raia Elsyn could hear the familiar sound of bolts emanating from rifles and the hiss of lightsabers coming to life; as she turned a corner the accompanying visual could be seen at the end of the hall, in the foyer of the Jedi Temple. The explosion of color and quicker-than-the-eye action was blinding, but Raia didn't need to use her eyes to see—in fact, she preferred not using them for they can be deceptive: the Force, on the other hand, does not lie. Within the Force the young Knight could _see_ the position of all the combatants and feel the trajectory of energy particles.

Like all good Jedi, Raia allowed herself to completely submerge into the flow Force; it filled her very being: it became her. And in a fluid movement, the Force, in the form of Raia Elsyn, entered the battle—joined her brothers and sisters in the desperate battle against an overwhelming force—activating her lightsaber and deflecting bolts heading for her fellow Jedi's back.

The Force brought the blue blade into an intricate path of twirls and spins that cut down clone soldiers and sent blaster fire ricocheting back from whence it came. But for every soldier killed three more took his place. The Force did not pay this unimportant detail any heed, for the Force is inexhaustible; but muscles can tire, not even the Force can prevent it.

All around her, Raia could feel life being extinguished—clone soldier and Jedi alike. Though the death of each Jedi was signaled with a scream within the Force; each scream broke Raia's heart and brought more desperation to the movement of her blade. Desperation which would lead her weapon to err, allow a stray bolt to beat her defenses and pierce her flesh, and extinguish her life such as the fate as her fellow Jedi.

Jedi she'd known since she was just a child, training together with Master Yoda, were gunned down, their bodies strewn about the temple floor. And there were none to take their place—unlike those that sought to kill them—each life destroyed left a gap in the Jedi ranks, never to be filled again.

Blaster fire continued to come at an alarming rate; a rate Raia was becoming unable to keep up with. Her blade still arced to intercept bolts coming her way while Jedi around her continued to fall. Only a handful still stood against the seemingly endless regiment of clone soldiers.

Pain! Her conscious mind barely registered it as a bolt grazed her leg searing the flesh. The Force was not concerned by the wound, it only directed the body's movements; but the body stumbled from the wound, its equilibrium thrown off. The blade compensated for this sudden movement, but it was already too late—Raia was struck in the shoulder and side.

She fell back. The new pain disrupting her focus, pulling senses back to those of a mere mortal. That was all she was—a mere mortal; not a Jedi, not a being with extraordinary power. And like a mortal she would be killed by the blaster bolt that tore through her chest, burning flesh, bone and organs on its destructive path.

Though, unlike a mere mortal, as her body hit the ground, Raia's essence rejoined the Force, and in that moment she became one with everything and knew all. And she knew that while she and her brethren would die, the light would not be extinguished. The light would live on. The darkness would be broken.

And she was gone.


End file.
